The Harbour Patrol at night

Looking back through the logbook some very unusual lighting configurations have been noted; we saw yachts motoring with every light on including tri-colour, steaming, anchor and deck lights. We observed large vessels with just a faint glimmer of white showing from the masthead, small RIBs with banks of dazzling spotlights, and even one powerboat with its green and red nav lights on the wrong sides!

Worryingly though we also saw a large number of boats with no lights at all.

Tenders without lights caused the most concern, being very vulnerable in the event of a collision. In a tender it is probably tempting to think that you could easily ‘duck out of the way’ of larger vessels on the move, but we frequently came across these boats, deeply laden with people (often not wearing lifejackets) moving slowly across the main channel. Even on a moonlit night these small visual targets disappeared in the shadows and darker patches of water. We were looking out for them but  others might not be so careful!

As a  responsible skipper  you must put the safety of your crew or family first and make sure that you can be clearly seen.

Amongst other craft that caused concern were RIBs. These boats are tremendously versatile and can be great fun hence the phenomenal rise in their numbers, but sadly there has been a corresponding increase in accidents.  At night one of the problems with small RIBs is passengers sitting on the sponsons and obscuring the nav lights from ahead. This is further compounded when the rib is driven with a ‘bows up’ trim and the crew stands. Using a RIB at night, check the trim of the boat and the position of  your passengers, and as an owner it might be worth considering having the lights mounted in a higher position.

Needless to say speeding on the river in any type of vessel is at the least unsociable, in darkness however it takes on the legal definition of reckless endangerment. On a number of occasions this summer we have caught boats going at full speed in the river at night (tender users please note)  For utterly self-centred irresponsibility though the prize goes to the speeders we saw who deliberately switched off their lights in an attempt to avoid detection; the attitude of these people beggars belief.

It is the policy of the RHHA to prosecute and press for the maximum penalties in such cases.

Richard Lawton, Patrol Officer